The Western Trust vaccination programme has reached two important milestones over the past week.
The Trust has now administered over 300,000 doses of Covid vaccine, a monumental effort by the vaccination teams and the support staff around them. This is a combination of first dose, second dose and booster jabs across a range of settings.
However, key to the success of the programme has been the role played by the Mass Vaccination Centres, including the centre at the Lakeland Forum (Enniskillen), which this week marked one year since their opening this week.
Of the 300,000 doses administered by the Western Trust, approximately 85 percent of these have been at a Mass Vaccination Centre, underlining the integral role they have played in helping get as many people jabbed as possible.
Since their reopening on December 15th to help accelerate the booster programme, the Western Trust’s three centres have seen huge numbers of people coming forward for vaccinations, with some days topping 2000 jabs and over 10,000 doses administered in the first six days, and Western Trust HR Director and Vaccination Programme Lead, Karen Hargan, has thanked both the Derry City and Strabane and the Fermanagh Omagh District Councils and their staff for their ongoing support by making their flagship centres available for the Trust to use:
“The support which we have received from the Councils and their staff has been unwavering, and we are indebted to them for allowing us to avail of their facilities and to Council staff for supporting the programme on the ground. For us to have such available spaces allows us to deal with the volumes of people we need to in order to bring ambitious plans to fruition.
“I would also like to take this opportunity to thank our amazing staff, who time and again over the past 12 months have been called upon to step up to the challenge. It is impossible to express our gratitude to them for the incredible work they have done, and continue to do.
“We continue to operate in a period of great uncertainty, but what we do know is that vaccination is saving lives and helping to reduce the number of people entering our hospitals as a result of COVID. We must continue to do all we can to help protect ourselves and our communities, to continue to follow the guidance and not allow ourselves to show complacency.”
Anyone who is aged 18+, who received their second dose jab more than 12 weeks ago, is now eligible for a booster. The reopening of the Mass Vaccination Centres has also seen a substantial volume of people coming forward to receive a first dose, or a second dose having missed their original second dose slot at the time.
The Lakeland Forum vaccination centre will be reopening to both booked appointments and walk-ins from next Wednesday, December 29. The number of walk-in slots available each day are limited, so online booking is encouraged to help with the smooth flow of numbers at the centre, and also to help avoid lengthy waiting times.
To read more.. Subscribe to current edition
Receive quality journalism wherever you are, on any device. Keep up to date from the comfort of your own home with a digital subscription.
Any time | Any place | Anywhere